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The more I think about this acquisition, the more I don't like it. Consolidation at this scale grosses me out. I like when everyone is healthy, strong and competitive, but more importantly balanced. Now one party is way too powerful.
You could have argued that the Bethesda acquisition was self-defense/offense. MS probably was peeved at Sony grabbing up Deathloop, Ghostwire: Tokyo and caught Sony eyeing Starfield and decided that was enough. Sony had it coming sniffing around Bethesda that much.
This Activision-Blizzard acquisition doesn't feel like that, it feels like overkill. CoD is literally the biggest game on PlayStation every year. Losing Bethesda hurts Sony's revenue, but Bethesda releases a big game at most every 3+ years. It donesn't hurt like Activision. Losing arguably the biggest third-party publisher every year is a big, big deal that will have long-lasting consequences for years to come. Remember that the Dreamcast had died in part because it lost support of one of the biggest third-party publishers, EA, back in the day.
Now, obviously I don't think Sony will go the way of Sega, but the loss of this publisher to Sony will be massive.
And inevitably Sony will probably respond with even more third-party/timed exclusives or DLC. (Granted, they were doing that even before Bethesda). Hell, they could definitively acquire Square Enix despite what some say. Oh well.
Last edited by hiccupthehuman - on 19 January 2022
